Cyber Security Research Skills

Course details

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Overview

This course examines how cyber-security research gets published and provides experience of participating in the publication process. Much of the work is concerned with managing a cyber-security conference programme (via an on-line conference programme management system).

Students will be required to elect a programme chair, bid to be referees for particular papers, and will be allocated papers for review. Each student will receive the same number of papers to review, be required to review these papers and submit their reviews to the system. Each paper will be reviewed by more than one student.

The student will be required to write a short report on some aspect of the module content. In addition, students will be expected to prepare a 5-minute podcast summarising the best of the papers they have reviewed (as they see it) and be interviewed as part of a simulated “live” five-minute “drive time slot” on local radio. In both cases the aim will be to develop skills needed to engage the general public.

This course assesses the quality and general effectiveness of their participation in the reviewing process (including the quality of critical reviews and participation in the whole reviewing process through to final decisions) and also of the communications elements.

This course aims:

to familiarise the student with the mechanics of how cyber-security research gets published;

understand how to give appropriate critical feedback when reviewing academic literature submitted for publication (i.e. to conferences and journals) and have experience in participating in a mock conference on cybersecurity.

be able to communicate cybersecurity issues to a variety of audiences, including security experts and the general public.

Prerequisites

Typically you will come from a strong computing background, with a degree in computing or relevant experience. If you are unsure about your prior experience, please email us with your details.

How is the course taught?

The course takes place over one week at the University of York. This week consists of a mixture of lectures and practicals, but we expect you to put in around 30 hours of private study.

Over the week, there will be a series of lectures and a number of case studies. The case studies give you the chance to work through an example to reinforce your learning from the lectures. This is also a chance to gain other insights from the experience and knowledge of other delegates. You will also be able to call on the experience and knowledge of our specialised teaching staff during these sessions.

The module ends with an assessed exercise, which you have the option of completing. It takes approximately 35 hours in addition to the scheduled teaching time and can be completed on or off site. All assessed exercises are open (so you won't take an exam in supervised conditions), and comprise a report, case study, or documented piece of software.